Hippity hoppity—Easter is almost here. Last night I baked two bunny cupcakes, and by morning I found a whole bunch of tiny baby bunnies hopping around my kitchen. You can imagine how that happened.
They look so innocent…
Cupcakes: I followed Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Yellow Downy Butter Cake recipe from The Cake Bible. Her book is an excellent resource, full of dependable recipes, tips, and clear explanations. I’m still learning some of the finer points of cake chemistry to get every batch perfect, but this recipe gives a great base for decorating.
Frosting: I used a simple basic buttercream from an earlier post. It’s smooth, holds shape well, and pairs nicely with the light cake.
Decorations: I made the ears from fondant, using small bunny-shaped cookie cutters to cut the pieces the night before. To make it easier to insert the ears into the cupcakes, I trimmed off the bunny face portion of the fondant cutouts. Then I left the ears on the counter to dry slightly so they would stay upright when placed in the cupcakes. For curved ears, I set them over the bottom of a shallow bowl or over a glass to shape them as they dried. For whiskers, thin Japanese somen noodles worked surprisingly well. I finished the faces with M&M’s and a variety of sprinkles for eyes and noses—simple, playful details that bring the bunnies to life.